Capture
by X-Nerd
Summary: Agent Zero is in disbelief when the Colonel tells him that a girl is the new member of their team. Will Zero be able to let go of his sexist opinions and finally find someone who understands him?
1. Briefing

Colonel William Stryker read over the file lying in front of him, grinning all the while. He'd finally found her. A mutant with incredible power, but she's old enough to be on the team this time. No experimenting... yet. His head snapped up when he heard a knock on his office door. He recognized the outline of the guns-man, Agent Zero.

"Come in, Zero. I have something I want to discuss with you."

The mutant opened the door and walked in, gently shutting it behind him.

"Sir, there are some things I want to discuss with you about Wade-"  
>"Not now, Agent. We have more important things to go over. Do you recognize this girl?"<p>

He held up a black and white picture of a girl laughing, obviously taken by a friend.  
>Zero shook his head.<p>

"No sir, not at all. May I ask what this has to do with me?"  
>"I'm getting there, I'm getting there. Zero, I've had my eye on this girl for a while. She has extraordinary abilities far beyond what I've seen with all the others. She learned to control her powers at a very young age, without any outside help whatsoever."<p>

Zero cut in, a little shocked.

"But sir, so did almost everyone else on this team! You can't expect me to believe that you're recruiting this girl simply on her drive for control of her powers?"  
>"Of course not, Zero! Let me get there, for Christ's sake."<p>

He cleared his throat, straightening his tie.

"These girls abilities are far more advanced than any of the men's on this team. No offense."

He realized this insult quickly, but said the apology without a note of sympathy. Zero simply ignored it. He was used to it by now. The colonel turned to his soldier.

"So, what do you think?"

Zero looked unsure for a moment, but then his face went blank.

"Sure, why not? We could use some more test subjects anyways-"  
>"Oh no, my dear boy, this girl will not be used as an experiment. This girl will be the newest addition to our team!"<p>

Zero's head shot up, his face filled with disbelief.

"WHAT? Colonel, you can't be serious! What makes you think a girl of her age could ever handle this type of work?! It's hard enough for us already!"  
>"I've already made my decision, Agent Zero. These girl's powers are far too valuable to be tampered with by some scientist in my lab. No. Her gifts will be put to far better use as a member of our team."<p>

Zero scowled at the floor.

"Just don't come asking for my help when she can't handle it. I will NOT be the one dealing with that."

He began to turn, but Stryker held up a hand.

"Just a moment... don't you want to know what she can do?"

Zero looked back at him over his shoulder.

"I'll pass. I'd rather see it up close anyways."

Stryker smirked, clasping his hands together. There was a knock on the door.

"Good. And just on time too. Come in."

The door opened and John and Wade walked into the office.

"Zero, these two will be accompanying you on your mission."  
>"Mission? What mission?"<p>

Zero didn't understand. What was Stryker talking about? He didn't expect him to... oh no...

"Agent Zero, Wade and John will be assisting you with the capture of the mutant Amber Maestas Coffey. Pray you don't disappoint me."


	2. Amber Maestas Coffey

-SMASH!  
>The girl groaned, holding her head as she sat up in bed, glancing at the shard remains of her alarm clock. Oh, how she loathed that irritating, never-ending beep. She made a note in her head to go to the store and buy a new alarm, but knowing her she'd probably forget about it within the next 10 minutes or so. She threw the covers off and swung her legs over the side of the bed, rubbing her face in all directions. She rose, shuffling like a zombie towards the bathroom for a looooooong shower. Her name was Amber Maestas Coffey, and she wasn't much of a morning person. She stood in there for what seemed like forever. As the hot water poured over her naked skin, she heard a little voice in her head whisper,<p>

{"Oh GODDAMN am I glad Stryker sent me on this mission! This girl has got some valuable assets that I've just got to get my hands on!"}

Then she heard another voice whisper even more softly,

{"Shut up, Wilson! I swear, if you screw this up and Stryker has to come and 'help'-"}

Then a third voice joined in the party going on in her head. At this point she'd gotten out of the shower and covered up her "valuable assets" with a towel.

{Relax, Zero. Ain't no reason for Stryker to come, as long as Wade keeps his hands to himself. You understand me boy?"}

The man obviously named Wade answered,

{"Yeah yeah whatever, John."}

Zero sighed and said,

{"Alright, now both of you please SHUT UP. Just wait until she gets-"}

But then the 'signal' cut off, and the voices in her head ceased their chatter. She made another note to tell her parents about these voices, but, alas, she would probably forget about it in the next 10 minutes or so. She sighed, quickly drying herself off and dressing in a pair of light, faded jean shorts with a random t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Yup, just a normal, typical day. With the addition of three little men named Wade, Zero and John having a lovely conversation inside her head.

_"Fuck, am I going crazy?"_

She shook her head, slipping on her tan retro sneakers and putting on her mascara slowly and deliberately, while telling herself that she wasn't going insane.

"You are perfectly sane. You are not crazy. You did not just hear three men talking to each other about your 'valuable assets' inside your head. You are a perfectly normal, 18-year-old girl who does NOT hear voices in her head. You are not insane."

{"Yes you are."}

Her eyes widened as she heard one of the voices respond to what she'd been saying. She continued to talk to herself as she ran downstairs, her sneakers squeaking on the slippery floors.

"You are a perfectly normal girl who does not hear voices in her head. You are not crazy! YOU ARE NOT GOING INSANE."

She was nearly to the front door when one of the voices started to laugh maniacally, making her bend over and clutch her head in agony.

{"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Can't get out that way, cutie. Try another way. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH-"}

{"Dude, what the hell are you doing?"}

{"Making it more fun! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"}

She held her head as she stumbled her way to the back door, that crazy laughter echoing and bouncing around in her skull. Why the hell was this happening?! She used one hand to support herself against the wall and the other to hold her head. She entered the kitchen and shouted in relief as the back door came into her line of vision. Se reached her free hand out, the laughing still bouncing and bouncing. She groped for the doorknob, finally grabbing ahold of it firmly and turning it, throwing open the door. She tried to run, but something blocked her way. A man grinned down at her, grabbing her wrists.

"Hey cutie," He smirked. "Wanna come over and play with us for a while?"


	3. Discovery

Amber slowly opened her eyes, seeing only darkness. Where the hell was she? She felt something pressing into her back and realized she was lying on a table. She groaned, sitting up and holding her head. She tried to recall what had happened to her, but all she could remember was that laughter. That maniacal laughter. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain bouncing around in her skull. Hearing the voice made her remember a face. The creator of the laughter, the tall figure smirking down at her. She spoke her thoughts aloud.

"Where the hell am I?"

An earth-shattering electrical scream echoed around wherever she was, causing her to scream in agony. She felt something wet fill her hands covering her ears, but dare not remove them for fear of going deaf. She felt a painful pulse fill her brain, getting bigger and bigger with each new addition. Tears filled her eyes, a cry of shattering misery filling the hall, but disappeared within a second, replaced by the screeching. That awful screeching. Then, all of a sudden...

Silence.

Amber was breathing heavily, her hands still covering her ears. Her hearing was nearly gone, but slowly returning bit by bit. Her vision was blurry as she brought her hands down to her lap. Deep red flooded her vision. That frequency was so high pitched that it'd made her ears bleed. But who...

"Good morning, sleeping beauty! Nice to see that you're finally awake. Sorry that I had to use the frequency shifter, had to show you what happens when our new recruits speak out of turn."

Amber balled her hands into fists, red dripping onto the table. He had been there the whole time? He'd just stood there while her ears bled themselves out? While she screamed in pain and agony, begging for it to end? She slammed her hands flat onto the table in front of her, catapulting herself onto the cold, stone floor. She faced where the voice had come from, her vision still slightly blurry.

"I don't care if you use that thing on me again! Where the hell am I! Why am I here! Show yourself!"

"Hmm, no thanks. I think I'll stay up here for just a little bit longer."

Amber glared at the empty space, growling.

"Temper, temper cutie. You don't wanna see even more red, do you?"

She could hear the smirk in his voice, and grimaced at it. Her vision was starting to return to her, along with her proper hearing, and she began to take in her surroundings. She was in an extremely large, ware-house like room, with tons of huge wooden boxes and crates. The metal table that she'd been lying on before was in the very middle of it all, now stained with two pools of red and two hand prints of dark red ink. She shook her head, the annoying ringing finally gone from her ears. A hand flew up to one ear, feeling something dry and itchy. Good, the bleeding had stopped. Confused by her silence, the voice spoke again,

"Look girlie, here's the deal. We need you for our team, but before you can join you have to show us what you can do, okay?"

Amber's ears perked up. Us? Who else was with him, wherever he was? She frowned, faking confusion.

"What do you mean?"

The voice groaned.

"Ugg, look! Don't try and play dumb with us. We know what you are. Now show us what you can do!"

There was a loud click, and this time a different type of frequency engulfed the room. Amber fell to her knees and palms, grunting. She felt a type of stinging right behind her eyes, inside her head. There was no pain, but she felt as if something was being pushed out of place. As the frequency went even higher, she started to feel a slight tingling in her fingertips. Thinking it was just an itch, she started to scratch it, but the itch turned into a burn, then a spark. Her hands felt like they were on fire, and she wanted it to stop NOW.

"Please, stop! It burns!"

There was no response from wherever the voice had been coming from before, only more frequency. Amber squeezed her eyes shut, her hands feeling like they were being electrocuted. She started to stand, the pain only getting worse.

"Please, I beg of you! Stop!"

Again, no response. Only more frequency. The light fixtures overhead began to wobble and shake violently. Amber couldn't take it much longer. She felt like she was going to explode in pain.

"PLEASE!"

All of a sudden, Amber felt a jolt of electric shocks run through her entire body, causing her to stand straight up and put her arms out like a T. Light blue electricity exploded from the light fixtures and charged their way towards Amber's outstretched hands. When they reached them, they seemed to go right inside of her hands and lodge somewhere else inside of her small frame. One by one the lights went out, each one being depleted of it's power source. Amber had tears pouring out of her shocked-opened eyes. She couldn't feel anything in her hands anymore, not even the pain or the burning. Soon there was only one light fixture left. Amber felt like she couldn't take anymore electricity in, even though this was only the first time she'd ever done it. Slowly, painfully, she started to lower her arms, the remaining electricity following them. When she'd gotten them down to her sides, her hands sparked and whizzed blue lights and shocks around them. The one light was still on. Amber was breathing hard, exhausted. In one last act of defiance, which Amber was sure would leave her unconscious, she aimed her hand at the light fixture and cried out, a blue wave shooting out of it and hitting the light, casting her in darkness. She fell to her knees, then to her side, about to pass out. The last thing she saw was the dim light of a flashlight coming towards her, then being shined right in her face. She recognized the face of the man who'd knocked her out at her house, and one she didn't recognize. An older, more official looking man.

"Yes," He said, smiling. "This is the one I want."


	4. Enemies and Allies

Agent Zero saw the girl fall to her knees, and sighed as Wade and Stryker left the room to go and check on her. Zero watched as they entered the floor below. John approached from behind and stood next to him.

"Hey, you okay, man? I seen you flinching every time Wade turned that dial."

Zero glared at the floor.

"I'm absolutely fine, John. I just... I just hate it when he uses those stupid, screeching, animalistic torture devices."

John nodded.

"I hear you, man. But it's what we do. It ain't all sunshine and rainbows. Never was. Never will be."

"Yeah, I know that John. It's just getting harder and harder seeing Stryker torture all these kids every day and not even blink an eye."

John sighed.

"I know, Zero... I know."

John turned and walked through the door, closing it slowly behind him. Zero put his hands on the table in front of him, watching as two guards picked up the girl and carried her out of the complex, Wade and Stryker not far behind. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, before taking his hands off of the table and walking towards the door, turning the lights off as he exited the room.

Amber felt as if she was asleep. She knew she hadn't felt this way a minute ago, and as her brain started kicking back into action, she suddenly felt aware of something. What was it? Everything was dark, and the dry, stale taste in her mouth opted out taste. She couldn't feel anything, and nothing was catching in her nose either. So what had woken her up? All of a sudden, she heard a tiny voice speaking to her softly.

"Hey, can you hear me? If you can, open your eyes."

She wanted to call out, "I can hear you just fine, thank you very much!", but it seemed as if her voice had disappeared altogether. She tried to open her eyes, but they were glued shut. The only way she'd be getting them open was with the help of her hands. Which she couldn't move. Great. She tried with all her might to move anything. An eyelid, a finger, a toe. Anything would do. She gave up for the time being and tried to focus on what was being discussed around her. There seemed to be two voices talking to each other in hushed whispers, almost as if they were afraid someone would hear them. Were they afraid?

It was a boy's voice that spoke first.

"Shh! If they figure out that we're trying to help her, they'll stick us in that god awful machine!"

A girl replied, "Oh, calm your quarters. No one's going to hear us. There'll all asleep right now except for John, who doesn't really give a damn about what we do."

The first voice sighed.

"Alright, fine. Just hurry up. I wanna go to sleep soon."

Amber snorted in her mind. He seemed like a nice person. But it seems she did something else as well, as the girl reacted quite hysterically.

"Hey, did you hear that, Remy? She made a sound! She's alive!"

Of course I'm alive. Idiot.

"It sounded gross."

Your mom sounded gross. Last night. Hey, at least she could still be sarcastic.

"Maybe if I talk to her again, I can get a response."

No duh.

"Why are you trying so hard to get her up this early after she's been zapped by that freakish torturing machine? It takes a while for the person to become responsive again. Remember when you first came here? Just let it happen naturally."

... Yeah, whatever he just said.

"Of course I remember, dumb ass. I just wanna be able to fill this girl in before her mind is brainwashed by those jerk-offs."

Whoa, WHAT? Jerking off and washing of brains did NOT sound like something fun to her. She had to wake up and talk to this girl. She tried once again to lift her finger, but it still wouldn't budge. She tried her eyelids. Nothing. She tried her toes. Nada. She had to move. She had to let this girl know she was alright. She had to wake up.

"C'mon Emma, just leave her alone for now. I let you be when you came back, and turned out just fine. Sure, it took about 7 hours for you to finally be able to form a sentence, but it all worked out in the end."

The girl scoffed.

"You are far too easy-going for your own good."

Amber heard a smile in the boy named Remy's voice.

"It's what I do."

Amber groaned inwardly. If these two didn't stop flirting she swore she wou-

"Let me just try one last time."

Silence. Obviously Remy had agreed, and Emma was now thinking of some other way to get her to wake up. All of a sudden, Amber felt tingling crawling up her side, then across her stomach and down her other side. She was extremely ticklish, and could feel her brain sending messages to her legs to kick from the tickling frenzy, but they still couldn't. Next it went to her arms, telling them to try and stop the attack, but still, nothing happened. The next thing said made her giggle inwardly, and not just from the tickling. Remy seemed to be in either shock or disbelief.

"... What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm tickling her to see if she responds. Our sense of touch is the most sensitive out of the five, so I figured there's a pretty good chance that she's ticklish. I was hoping she'd respond in some way. You're right. It's too early in the recovery period for there to be any kind of response from her. Let's try again in the morning."

Amber wanted to cry out, to tell her not to leave her alone. She couldn't give up, not when she was so close. She had to stop her from falling asleep, or else she'd be stuck not moving her fingers and toes for the next eight hours alone.

W-w-w-w...

W-w-a-a-a...

W-w-a-a-i...

"Wait."

Her voice was raspy and croaky, like if a toad had suddenly felt the urge to elope with an old woman, and they had strange frog/old lady hybrid children together, and their kids were awful singers who had a lifelong case of strep throat and they all of a sudden said the word 'Wait' all at the same time. That's what it sounded like.

She felt her finger finally move, and she smiled. She had broken past a barrier that she was afraid she'd never get through.

Two faces flooded her returning vision as her eyes slowly opened. The girl, Emma, had pure blonde hair, pale skin and icy blue eyes, with a kind expression on her beautiful features. The boy, Remy, was much different. He had longish, dark hair and dark, beautiful eyes. He had a beard (if it was even long enough to call it that) on his chin, and his skin was slightly tanned. Every now and then, his dark eyes would glow bright red, but Amber wasn't sure if it was just the way the light was hitting them. Emma seemed relieved, while Remy seemed confused and slightly cautious. Amber was good at reading faces, which was one of her few non-dangerous hobbies. She smiled at them both. The girl spoke first, seemingly eager to tell her something.

"Hi, I'm Emma. This is Remy."

She motioned to Remy, and he smiled half-heartedly. Amber tried to roll her eyes, but failed.

"We're so glad that you're finally awake. We have so much to fill you in on. But first, what's your name?"

Amber grinned.

"Amber. My name is Amber."

* * *

><p>I have no excuse for why this took so long to update, so I'll just apologize and be over it. I'M SORRY. There. :3 This chapter is a little longer than usual, which is great... so I'm not quite sure why I started off this sentence making it sound like a bad thing. LOLZ. Anyways, enjoy! R&amp;R! :)<p> 


	5. Mistake

Stryker flipped and shuffled through the various papers smothering his desk, all of them relating to his newest addition, Amber Maestas Coffey. Information about powers, early childhood, education, medical history, it all was at his fingertips. Unfortunately, this girl also seemed to be a very good actress, at least to his knowledge. The report back from Zero would confirm it. The reason that they were double checking with their sources was that the girl's report had told them that she had complete control over her powers, but when they'd activated the machine, she'd acted as if she'd never even seen lightning before. He sighed. He just hoped that nothing else would screw up this plan.

There was a sharp rap on the door, and the Colonel started a bit, but regained his composure as he said seriously,

"Come in, Zero."

Zero opened the door and entered the room with a few more papers in his hands.

"Sir, I have the report back from the telepaths."

"And you made sure these ones weren't liars like the last ones?"

"I'm absolutely certain, sir. And if they were... Well, let's just say they know what's coming to them if they were. They remember from last time."

Zero smiled slyly. That was a fun day.

The Colonel nodded, getting up from his chair.

"And?"

"Turns out she was lying. She knows exactly how to use her powers, but was faking confusion and the like to see if we would take pity on her."

He smirked. Like we ever would.

"I have the official report here, if you'd like to re-"

"Agent Zero, I trust you completely. I'd actually trust you with my life, unlike some of the other idiots I hire. I don't need to read the report."

Zero nodded, a little taken-aback by this sudden spring of emotions from the general. Well, they weren't exactly very emotional emotions, but at least they were there. He nodded again. Better to not say anything and make it worse. He just stood there in silence, waiting for his next order.

Stryker was in deep thought for a couple of minutes before there was another sharp rap at the door, startling him yet again. He frowned, annoyed by this sudden jumpiness, and said crossly,

"Yes, come in."

John entered the room, looking a little flustered. Something must have happened, since John rarely ever gets worked up over anything. Zero stepped aside, allowing him in full view of the Colonel. He breathed hard as he spoke, seeming to have run all the way here.

"Sir, we have a problem with the new recruit, Am-"

"Yes, I know who you're talking about. What's the problem?"

Stryker seemed to be a bit touchy about this, which confused both John and Zero.

"Uhh, well... You see..."

"JOHN! I don't have time for this! What is it?"

"Sir, she's woken up. But... not exactly where we wanted her to."

Stryker was obviously upset now.

"What do you mean, John? Spit it out already!"

John swallowed hard.

"Well Sir, she woke up in a cell with two other experiments. They've already begun talking to her. We have to hurry before they turn her against us, or else she'll never join our team."

By the time John had finished the last sentence, Stryker was already out the door, a plain look of rage upon his face. John and Zero glanced at each other for only a moment before following him out, falling in step behind him. Stryker wasn't done questioning John though.

"Did you already try to get her out?"

John seemed a bit taken-aback.

"Of course I did, Sir! But the two guards who put her in there refuse to let her out. They keep saying they have special orders from you that only you can let her out."

Stryker stopped for a moment, John nearly running into him before Zero catches him. A silent word of thanks is exchanged.

"John, have I ever given any such order like that?"

"Umm, no. No, Sir."

"Then why would those two keep saying such nonsense? They know the consequences of lying to me."

John swallowed again and Zero looked at his boots. They were spotless. He frowned. Stryker sighed, putting a hand to his head. His headache was returning again. Then a thought came to him. The two other kids in that cell had to be...

"Emma and Remy."

Zero's eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm sorry?"

"John, the two other kids in that cell are Emma and Remy, correct?"

John nods, but then remembers that he's behind the Colonel, and says,

"Yes."

"I knew it. Emma's been getting better at her control of her powers. She's controlling the two guards. What's sad is that they're stupid enough to give in."

He shook his head, sighing, all the rage nearly gone.

"C'mon boys, let's go see what damage has already been done. Call Wade and Victor down as well, but leave Bradley at the control room. I have a feeling this could get a bit tense."

He walked in a terrifyingly calm manor towards the prisoner cells. Zero and John both looked at each other, than forward back at Stryker. Whatever was about to happen, could not possibly be good in any way, shape, or form. And both of them knew it.


	6. Hatred

The five men walked in formation towards the prisoner cells. Instead of leaving Bradley at the control center, Stryker'd told Wade to keep an eye on it instead. No need to get the girl even more angry than she already was. As they walked, he could see Emma and Remy talking to the girl excitedly. He scowled. That little telepath was going to be in a lot of trouble.

As they reached cell number 118, which was only supposed to be holding two mutants, Stryker crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Emma.

"Emma."

She jumped, as if startled. She turned to see Stryker and the four other men, and she frowned innocently.

"Yes?"

"Emma, I'd like my new recruit back, please."

"Oh, is this the new recruit everyone's been talking about? I didn't know."

She smirked, glancing at Remy. Stryker's frown deepened.

"Emma,"

She turned back to him.

"You know this is going to have serious consequences, don't you?"

Emma had given up her tactic of being stupid to the whole thing, and just let it out.

"Why, because I'm trying to prevent another one of your stupid lackeys from being created and morphed? Amber is sweet, smart, and strong. She doesn't deserve the life you've picked out for her!"

At the mention of her name, Amber turned to face everyone. Everyone, even Victor, was slightly taken aback. Instead of the deep blue color her eyes were supposed to be, as it said in her file, they were completely black, as if they had been spooned out and only the holes were left. Unfortunately, all of them knew that this meant that Emma had been in her head for far too long. Zero swallowed hard, and Stryker cleared his throat, trying to keep calm.

"Emma, get out of her head. Now."

"Why, so that she can help all of you capture more kids like me? I don't think so."

She looked forcefully at Amber, who turned her back to the men once again. It was obvious that she'd never encountered a telepath before, even one that was just starting out like Emma. She had no way to protect herself. Zero took a step towards the cell, but Stryker put a hand up to stop him.

"Emma, let her go."

Emma ignored him and turned towards Amber, whispering to her.

"Emma."

She kept ignoring them.

"Emma, you have no idea how patient I'm actually being with you right now. This is your last chance."

Emma stuck her middle finger towards them without looking, causing Stryker's face to pinch up in rage. He said in a deadly calm voice,

"Fine."

He turned and whispered to Zero and Victor, who ran off. The Colonel took a deep breath. His blood pressure was going to be far too high for his liking after this. Zero and Victor returned extremely quickly, followed by an older woman with long, dark hair and a small, petite frame. She jogged up to the Colonel and said,

"William, what's wrong? By the way those two told me to hurry, you'd think someone was dead."

"Lucille, get Emma's hold off of the two guards and the girl. Please."

The woman nodded, used to being ordered like this, and focused her eyes on the two guards. Their eyes snapped open, and then they relaxed. They looked around, slightly confused. The woman saw Emma try to regain hold on them, but the woman was stronger and much more experienced, and she kept her out. Next, she turned to Amber, her hold still on the guards. Emma was a very weak telepath still, so it was quite easy for the woman to break her hold on the girl and keep her out at the same time. Amber slumped to the floor, eyes closed. The woman nodded, still very focused on Amber.

"Alright, you're clear."

Victor and John pushed the two human guards aside and entered the cell. Emma threw herself in front of Amber, as if this would help at all. Victor smirked, bearing his fangs.

"We warned you, girly. Now you have to be punished."

They closed in quickly and each grabbed an arm, dragging her out of the cell as she kicked and screamed obscenities and the like, cursing all of their names numerous times. Stryker held up a hand to them, and they stopped. Emma's face looked hopeful, although there was no reason to be.

"Zero, get the girl and wake her up. Make sure she sees Emma."

Zero did as was told. He entered the cell and picked the girl up gently in his arms bridal style, carrying her out and making sure her face was towards Emma.

"Now Lucille, wake her up."

Slowly but surely, Amber's eyelids fluttered open and she saw a face enter her vision. The older, more official looking man from before. She frowned.

"Where am I?"

Emma tried to shout out, but Victor kept a hand planted firmly over her mouth. She tried to bite it as hard as she could, but it was no use. He never felt pain. Stryker sighed.

"My dear, you are at Three Mile Island. It's sort of like my secret hide-out, per say. How would you like to be part of my team?"

Amber thought for a a moment, then said,

"Do I have to pay you?"

Stryker laughed, shaking his head.

"No, my dear. All you have to do is help me capture monsters like her."

He stepped out of the way and pointed to Emma. Something seemed to go off in Amber's head when she saw that girl. She seemed really familiar.

"Have I met her before?"

"You have, but not in a good way."

"Oh. I knew I'd seen her somewhere."

Stryker's lips tightened.

"This girl tried to get into your head. Tried to control your thoughts and actions, without even thinking of how it would affect you. She can control your mind, Amber. And she did that to you. Without your consent. She tried to get you to think the way she does. She tried to change you."

Amber's face darkened with every word. Oppression was a problem she was very passionate about, and she did not like people who acted like this girl, even if they weren't mutants. Stryker grinned, seeing his plan working.

"So, Miss Amber, do you want to help me catch monsters like her? Or do you want to conform to her cause, letting her inside your head and your most deep and personal thoughts, without you even consenting to it first?"

Amber glared at the girl, then looked up at the man who'd spoken to her.

"I'm in."


	7. Cells

As soon as Stryker had left and Emma had been dragged away, Amber's face fell. She felt like she'd done something wrong, but for now she ignored her guilty conscious and looked up to the man who was holding her in his arms. She cleared her throat, but he didn't seem to hear. She frowned.

"Excuse me..."

He seemed startled when he looked down, as if forgetting he was carrying a 115 lb. weight in his arms, and dropped her immediately. Amber glared up at him, but he showed no sign of an apology in his face. She heard laughter behind her and turned towards the cage she'd inhabited only a few minutes ago to see the boy, Remy, laughing heartily at her pain and embarrassment. The man above her seemed to notice too and said authoritatively,

"Bradley, help me get the Cajun to a holding cell. He needs to learn his lesson just as much as blondie does." Remy immediately stopped, his face going blank. Amber smirked. That shut him up. The man named Bradley replied with a quick,

"Yes, Zero."

And turned to the boy. They entered the cell, Zero first, then Bradley. Both men grabbed his arms without trouble, as he was not struggling like Emma had, and instead of dragging him by his feet, they let him walk with their grips firmly on his arms. Zero stopped suddenly, causing Bradley to almost let go of Remy, but he regained his solid composure. Zero turned to Amber, saying with quiet authority,

"Stay here."

Amber glared, her ass still hurting from being dropped, but nodded.

As both men walked out, Amber immediately stood up, rubbing her buns as she did so, looking around. This room seemed to be some kind of jail, with cells in a straight line down the middle. Emma and Remy had been in one of the middle ones. As she now looked around even closer, she saw hundreds of eyes staring directly at her. She realized that these cells were filled with other kids, most likely mutants. She frowned. All of them were probably exactly the same as Emma, trying to use their gifts as a harmful weapon to control people. Her frown deepened into a scowl as she walked towards the doors where Zero and Bradley had exited, keeping her eyes trained straight forward, not giving in to the impulse to stare right back at all of them. When she'd reached the last cell, she sighed, loving the sight of that ugly, bolted, mechanical door. She was just about to step out of the vicinity of the cells when she heard a small voice from behind her say,

"Excuse me, miss. Are you here to save us?"

Amber turned around to see a small, mousey boy with sandy brown hair and big green eyes. She didn't know how to respond. Save them? Save them from what? She was just about to ask this question when the door behind her opened, and a familiar face walked in.

"Hello again, beautiful! Remember me?"

Amber turned to see a muscular, tan man standing before her, with two swords attached to his back. He had an extremely handsome face, but a very cocky expression plastered on it. Amber racked her memories for something that was catching in her mind about this man. His voice, his face, something about him was just extremely known.

"You're the one who kept complementing me during my torture session, right?"

Wade was almost surprised for a moment, but it was gone in a flash. He definitely wasn't expecting an answer like that, especially when it was said in such a calm manner. He cleared his throat, and she smiled.

"Well... yes. But anyway, I'm here to escort you to the rec room, or whatever. Can't let the little bastards try and get to you now, can I?"

He grinned, but Amber frowned.

"You mean the kids?"

Wade rolled his eyes.

"Of course I mean the kids, now c'mon! We've got a lot to go over. I have to fill you in on a lot of useless shit." He walked forward and grabbed her shoulder, not roughly, but enough force to get her to move, and pulled her towards the door. She smiled, but as soon as they were through the entryway, she turned her head slightly to see the mousey little boy still staring at her, with that hopeless look of complete sadness still etched on his face.

%%%

Zero threw Remy into the small, windowless, white room while Bradley held the door open. The second Zero was out, he slammed it shut, locking it quickly and silently. He nodded, so Zero began to walk towards the cell room, where he'd left the new recruit, and Bradley fell in step beside him. They were quiet for most of the trip. Neither man felt the need to talk 100% of the time, like Wade, so they both enjoyed the silence. But Bradley had a question playing on his mind that he just had to ask.

"So, what do you think of her?"

Zero stopped for a moment, but kept walking as if nothing had happened.

"Who's her?"

Bradley rolled his eyes.

"Who do you think, dumbass? The new recruit."

Zero shrugged.

"I'm indifferent towards her. She'll be a good addition to the team, according to her powers an-"

"Oh, cut the bullshit Zero. Everyone knows how much you didn't want her to join! Now c'mon, what do you really think of her?"

Zero showed no emotion other than the glare he was aiming at the door in front of them.

"Like I said before, I'm indifferent towards her. As long as she doesn't get in my way, I'll be just fine with her. That's it."

He nodded to the two guards on either side of the large door, who opened it, but when he walked inside, Amber was gone. He felt panic for just a moment, but thought better of himself and said to the guards,

"Did either of you see where our new team member went?"

Both nodded, but the one on the right spoke.

"Yes, sir. She went with Wade. He said he was gonna show her the rec room, I think."

Zero nodded and walked away in the direction of the rec room, leaving Bradley to thank the guards. He, once again, managed to catch up with Zero.

"What's with the speed, Agent? You worried about Amber already?"

He smirked, but Zero glared straight at him, still walking.

"I'm only worried about Stryker, seeing as he specifically told me not to let Wade anywhere near the new recruit. I just hope they actually went to the rec room, otherwise it's my ass on the line."

Bradley just shook his head, chuckling silently to himself. Zero glared again, but kept on walking. He didn't care what Bradley or any of the others thought of him, or his tactics. And he certainly didn't care about Amber. Not one bit.


End file.
